We had a chance to talk with author Robert Freese about his short story turned short movie, The Horror Collector. Its a tale of horror conventions, fans, and freaks. Oddly enough, the whole idea for the short film came from a horror convention! Strange things do happen and sometimes for the better. Check out what Robert has to say about The Horror Collector….
“The Horror Collector” is a very short story I wrote last year to give out at horror cons as a sample of my writing. I figure, if people don’t buy a book, they can at least take the story, get an idea of what I write, and then check out my website for more info on my writings and books later. I believe it is just under 500 words, very short.
The plot is very simple. At a horror con, a horror writer meets his biggest fan. He awakens in his hotel room, tied to his bed. Groggy, he remembers a struggle with the person bringing him his room service. Gagged, he cannot say a word.
In comes a tall, lanky fellow wearing a white lab coat covered in blood spatters. He is also wearing a Tor Johnson mask. (The Tor Johnson mask was recently re-issued. It is one of the most disturbing masks I’ve ever seen.) The kid proceeds to tell the writer what a big fan he is and how his books touched the kid’s life. The kid loves horror books and movies and collects stuff. Books, movies, posters, magazines, but most importantly, the hands of his favorite creators. He usually waits until the person has passed away, but in the case of the writer, he cannot wait. He has to have the writer’s hands in his collection immediately.
So, like any good horror story, the fan goes about taking the hands of the writer. It is all calm, no ranting or raving. The fan puts the hands in a plastic bag, which he puts into a black medical bag and leaves. But not before letting a little more fan boy gush on the writer.
Four weekends ago, filmmaker Darrell Parker and I were at the Con Nooga convention in Chattanooga, TN. He was promoting his new film Fistful of Brains (a zombie western). He came by my table and we talked a bit. He took one of the free stories in addition to picking up a couple magazines. Two weeks later he contacted me and said he really wanted to make a short film based on the story. He said the story really got under his skin and that he could make a very cool little movie from it.
We talked on the phone and basically ironed out the specifics. We signed contracts. We talked about some of the things that could be done to maybe milk the idea for more suspense (such as changing the gender of either the author or the fan). The plan right now is to make it into the creepiest, most disturbing 5 to 8 minute short film as possible, and show it at as many film festivals and horror cons as possible. There is a chance that, if successful, he may want to look at some of my other stories and make a few more short films and possibly string them together into some kind of anthology, but that is in the future. The focus right now is getting “The Horror Collector” made.
Because Darrell is in North Carolina and I am in Alabama, I will not be able to be present during filming. I hope to keep in contact with him during the filming. I have no idea as to what actors he has in mind for the roles of author and fan. I don’t know much about the little details of the production.
Suffice to say, this is very exciting and I cannot wait to see my little story made into an actual film.
Thanks to Robert for the insight on The Horror Collector. We will keep you updated on the film!!
